DETECTIVES are appealing for witnesses after two men stole more than £2,000 cash and postal orders from Iwade post office, near Sittingbourne.

During the robbery, manager Hitesh Patel was punched and forced to crouch on the floor by one of the men while the other grabbed cash and postal orders from the post office section.

Mr Patel was having a can of drink in the general stores at about 5.20pm on Friday after closing the post office counter when two black men walked in. He said: "One of them pushed me into a corner and punched me in the back. I was forced to crouch down and told to look at the floor."

Police say no weapons were seen or used in the robbery. Five minutes before the raid the same men walked into the store and bought cigarettes.

One man is described as aged between 20 and 25. He was wearing a light coloured sports top with a hood, a baseball cap and dark jeans. He accomplice is also aged between 20 and 25 and of slim build. He was wearing a dark blue sports top, dark blue trouders and a baseball cap.

Det Insp Mick Costello said: "This was a distressing incident. We are keen to hear from anyone who may have seen these men acting suspiciously in the area at the time of the incident. We are particularly interested in details of the vehicle they were using."

Anyone with information is asked to ring Swale police on 01795 477055 or Crimestoppers 0800 555111.